On Friday, December 12, 2014, a global coalition will launch the first-ever Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) and call for universal health coverage (UHC) to be a cornerstone of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and a priority for all nations. UHC Day encourages civil society organizations from around the globe to publicly display support of UHC and health for all on Friday. Over four hundred organizations have already joined the call.

Staff contributors at Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a founding member of the UHC Day coalition, will blog every day this week about universal health coverage, including sharing fresh videos, photos, and analysis, inspired by the following five reasons to support health for all. Each day we also will include ideas for organizations and individuals to take action.

MSH and the UHC Day coalition encourage you to join the UHC Day call for health for all:

Because no one should go bankrupt when they get sick.

Because universal health coverage is attainable.

Because universal health coverage can help stop the world’s biggest killers.

Because health transforms communities, economies and nations.

Because health is a right, not a privilege.

We start the week of blogging about health for all with inspiration on reason one (“Because no one should go bankrupt when they get sick”), including quotes from two UHC leaders, a video from our "Toast to UHC" event this Fall, and today's suggested action:

“Because no one should go bankrupt when they get sick”

UHC is about filling the tragic gaps that exist in health systems around the world: gaps in access, in affordability, and health needs that go unanswered. … UHC brings together the many health needs of women who die needlessly, from preventable or treatable conditions: from HIV, TB, childbirth, or the host of chronic diseases whose impact in the developing world continues to grow.

Everybody agrees: We want to make sure that every human being has access toward proper health services at an affordable cost.

~Ariel Pablos-Méndez of US Agency for International Development (USAID), Global Health, at "A Toast to UHC"

Special guest Yvonne Chaka Chaka joined Pablos-Méndez, MSH President & CEO Dr. Jonathan D. Quick, Heartfile founder and president Sania Nishtar, and other distinguished global health leaders in advocating for universal health coverage in the post-2015 framework at a high-level reception, “A Toast to UHC”, hosted by MSH during United Nations General Assembly week.

Watch video: A Toast to UHC

Led by Dr. Quick, MSH was an early advocate for UHC as a critical mechanism for achieving health for all, especially among the poorest and most vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries, and continues to lead and support advocacy and action toward UHC and health for all.

Take action

Amplify the health for all call. Add your voice—and the reach of your social media network—to amplify the call for #HealthForAll on #UHCDay: Sign up today for the UHC Day Thunderclap.Then invite your network to join you in the Thunderclap by tweeting or posting an update on your Wall. Use hashtags #HealthforAll and #UHCDay in your tweets and posts.

Watch this space all week for #healthforall videos and photos, analysis, and daily actions. (Visit us on Facebook and Twitter for extras and interactives not included here.)

(Want to do more right now? Share the featured image below with hashtag #HealthforAll and read the #UHCDay toolkit for more ideas now.)

UHC is a great opportunity to put aside our differences and work together for a movement that brings benefits to people and patients, reduces poverty and promotes inclusive growth. A special pitch to work WITH the private sector and support governments in putting in place balanced regulatory systems that promote human development and social welfare